Hunted: The Demon's Forge

First Look – Hunted: The Demon’s Forge

Early this morning inXile and Bethesda announced Hunted; The Demon’s
Forge. We had a chance to check out the game last week and share our
impressions below.

InXile Entertainment was founded by Brian
Fargo back in 2002, a industry veteran who has worked on fantasy
franchises such as The Bard’s Tale, Baldur’s Gate and Fallout. Hoping
to reinvigorate the dark fantasy genre, Hunted is a third-person co-op
action title that aims to add new polish to the classic dungeon crawler
formula.

Hunted stars a female elf named E’lara and a male
human named Caddoc. E’lara is a ranged weapon expert, lithe, and
bloodthirsty. Caddoc is a physical opposite – big and bulky as a master
swordsman should be. From a personality standpoint, Caddoc is the more
reserved of the two. Returning from a long journey, the pair is
informed by a wandering spirit that villagers are disappearing from
once-quiet towns. Directed by the specter to the nearest village in
need, they find the streets abandoned. After a few moments a scream
pierces the quiet and a man runs toward them with a monstrous creature
in pursuit. Before they can react the creature tackles the man and
rips out his heart, gorily rendered with the Unreal Engine.

No
longer needing to ask questions, E’lara and Caddoc spring into action.
Combat is fast and frantic, with a contextual cover system proving a
more strategic layer to play. There are three methods to combat that
each player can take advantage of – ranged, melee and spell casting.
Caddoc is slower but boasts more brute strength, making melee his
primary vehicle for carnage. A crossbow acts as a secondary, less
powerful tool. E’lara’s primary attack is with her massive bow – a
small sword available for any close encounters. Both characters can use
magic equally, as a direct method of attack or to augment weaponry.

On
the outskirts of town E’lara and Caddoc locate the holding place of the
villagers, noting that they are heavily guarded. The area is large and
open, comprised of several plateaus at varying heights. E’lara takes
the high road, positioning herself near a torch in order to pick off
foes with a flaming arrow. Caddoc takes the more direct route, mowing
down forces on the ground.

In the bulk of co-op games
proximity is key, but inXile is introducing what they call “Co-op at a
distance.” If a player falls the other can revive them with one of
three potions they can carry on their belt. In a Gears of War fashion,
fallen players crawl on the ground for a short period of time, allowing
their partner to throw the vial at them from across the room. This
allows the players to better utilize their skill sets, avoiding having
them tethered together at all times.

Spells are another
vehicle for co-op at a distance. For example, E’lara can freeze
characters from across the room, letting Caddoc shatter them at close
range. Conversely, Caddoc can use a levitation skill to toss a group of
foes up into the air, giving E’lara a window to pick them off with her
arrows. More skills and upgrades can be earned and unlocked as the
players progress in the game.

Because each character has such
unique battle style, inXile opted to allow character swapping at
predetermined checkpoints. This way players can experience both play
styles and level them up as desired. Friends can jump in or out at any
checkpoint, with online play the only focus for inXile.

The
game itself looks fantastic, with environments not limited to dark,
dank dungeons. The team at inXile was explicit about the fact that they
want sweeping vistas to complement some of the more traditional dark
fantasy elements.

The Hunted doesn’t have a launch window as of yet, but is in development for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Games for Windows.